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The original pitch for Diablo (1994) [pdf]

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Re: The original pitch for Diablo (1994) [pdf]

#21

Post by digi_owl »

Humdeee wrote: post #10

Fond memories of this as a kid. I remember after playing it for a while with friends and coming across BoBaFett's trainer and DooM-Gaze's (sic?) trainer enabling god-mode, fast spellcast, maxed stats, Godly Plate of the Whale armor, King's Sword of Haste, dropping elixirs all over town around Deckard Cain, etc. I was legitimately scared at my age to step into the cracks of hell to go after Diablo when they opened beh…

"Ah, fresh meat!"

I still recall opening a door in the game (with hints of something odd about the tiles behind it) and hearing that come out of the speakers to this day.

Re: The original pitch for Diablo (1994) [pdf]

#22

Post by AndrewOMartin »

digi_owl wrote: post #17
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #9

Worth noting to those who haven't read the pitch: the original design for Diablo was turn-based . The hexagonal movement system was causing a huge headache for the programmers, however, and eventually they decided to make it real-time. The now-defunct Gametrailers did an amazing retrospective on the Diablo series at some point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83bFa9qL8XQ EDIT: I also thought some of the side illustra…

I swear i have seen some video from a conference or similar where Brevik talks about being staunchly in the turn-based camp, until he sat down and implemented real-time (the game already ran on a system of ticks so he basically allowed the ticks to run even without any input from the player) over a weekend and had his proverbial mind blown by the experience.

Haha, I was typing my post before I saw yours, else I would have made it a reply!

For "over a weekend" read "in a few hours" :)

Re: The original pitch for Diablo (1994) [pdf]

#23

Post by digi_owl »

nilkn wrote: post #13

I'd really enjoy seeing a modern ARPG that is legitimately unsettling and dark in the way that Diablo was (and D2, to a slightly lesser extent). We've got D3, which has really fun gameplay but feels commercialized and looks like WoW, and we've got PoE, which has a lot of really brilliant ideas and has a darker theme but at no point is ever actually unsettling.

I can't help worry that Path of Exile has become a victim of its own success. Lately the updates seems heavily tilted towards trying to "catch" hardcore (one character death and it is out of the league) characters, leading to a "death spiral" of sorts between the top players (more often than not streamers that dedicate their days to playing the game live) and Grinding Gear Games.

Re: The original pitch for Diablo (1994) [pdf]

#24

Post by rntksi »

nilkn wrote: post #13

I'd really enjoy seeing a modern ARPG that is legitimately unsettling and dark in the way that Diablo was (and D2, to a slightly lesser extent). We've got D3, which has really fun gameplay but feels commercialized and looks like WoW, and we've got PoE, which has a lot of really brilliant ideas and has a darker theme but at no point is ever actually unsettling.

You might want to try Grim Dawn. If Turn-based works too then Darkest Dungeon.

Re: The original pitch for Diablo (1994) [pdf]

#25

Post by Humdeee »

callinyouin wrote: post #19
Humdeee wrote: post #10

Fond memories of this as a kid. I remember after playing it for a while with friends and coming across BoBaFett's trainer and DooM-Gaze's (sic?) trainer enabling god-mode, fast spellcast, maxed stats, Godly Plate of the Whale armor, King's Sword of Haste, dropping elixirs all over town around Deckard Cain, etc. I was legitimately scared at my age to step into the cracks of hell to go after Diablo when they opened beh…

I had pretty much the exact same experience and it seems we're about the same age. It was my first exposure to online gaming and I remember being so amazed that you could play a game like that over the internet with total strangers! Cheating was a big downside to playing on battle.net though, in my experience. It got so bad that you would enter a game and another player would either crash the game (by dropping a modi…

The rush of cheating wore off pretty quickly. I think everyone went through their 'ear collection' phase, but it was rather beating Diablo on Hell difficulty as the real accomplishment. I always found the Lazarus quest to be harder though.

I remember first discovering online mode. Clicking Multiplayer and seeing some sort of "you must be connected to the internet" type message. I started up the dial up connection and tried again and then the world opened up to me.

As much time as I spent on D1 and enjoying myself, it paled in comparison as the gateway drug to SC:BW for me.

Re: The original pitch for Diablo (1994) [pdf]

#26

Post by hitekker »

rntksi wrote: post #24
nilkn wrote: post #13

I'd really enjoy seeing a modern ARPG that is legitimately unsettling and dark in the way that Diablo was (and D2, to a slightly lesser extent). We've got D3, which has really fun gameplay but feels commercialized and looks like WoW, and we've got PoE, which has a lot of really brilliant ideas and has a darker theme but at no point is ever actually unsettling.

You might want to try Grim Dawn. If Turn-based works too then Darkest Dungeon.

I'd recommend against Darkest Dungeon. Whereas Diablo 1 & 2 carefully cultivated its gothic aura, DD went full-on edge and melodrama.

Re: The original pitch for Diablo (1994) [pdf]

#27

Post by hitekker »

nilkn wrote: post #13

I'd really enjoy seeing a modern ARPG that is legitimately unsettling and dark in the way that Diablo was (and D2, to a slightly lesser extent). We've got D3, which has really fun gameplay but feels commercialized and looks like WoW, and we've got PoE, which has a lot of really brilliant ideas and has a darker theme but at no point is ever actually unsettling.

I agree that D3 was a let-down. Story, graphics and all lacked the spirit, and thereby, the greatness of Diablo 1 and Diablo 2.

Re: The original pitch for Diablo (1994) [pdf]

#28

Post by Humdeee »

digi_owl wrote: post #21
Humdeee wrote: post #10

Fond memories of this as a kid. I remember after playing it for a while with friends and coming across BoBaFett's trainer and DooM-Gaze's (sic?) trainer enabling god-mode, fast spellcast, maxed stats, Godly Plate of the Whale armor, King's Sword of Haste, dropping elixirs all over town around Deckard Cain, etc. I was legitimately scared at my age to step into the cracks of hell to go after Diablo when they opened beh…

"Ah, fresh meat!" I still recall opening a door in the game (with hints of something odd about the tiles behind it) and hearing that come out of the speakers to this day.

I could of sworn that the audio for the Butcher's voice was levels higher than the rest of anything else in the game. Madly clicking in retreat as some fat, greasy demon sprinted after you is a staple to every young player.

Re: The original pitch for Diablo (1994) [pdf]

#29

Post by hitekker »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #9

Worth noting to those who haven't read the pitch: the original design for Diablo was turn-based . The hexagonal movement system was causing a huge headache for the programmers, however, and eventually they decided to make it real-time. The now-defunct Gametrailers did an amazing retrospective on the Diablo series at some point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83bFa9qL8XQ EDIT: I also thought some of the side illustra…

Generally, isometric grids don't work well in gameplay.

I beat "Into The Breach" 3 times on hard mode with 3 different classes, and I can safely say that a top-down perspective would have been more intuitive.

It feels like every time I look at the map, I need to rotate the image 45 degrees in my head before I could process what unit needs to do what.

Re: The original pitch for Diablo (1994) [pdf]

#30

Post by bovermyer »

valbaca wrote: post #16
nilkn wrote: post #13

I'd really enjoy seeing a modern ARPG that is legitimately unsettling and dark in the way that Diablo was (and D2, to a slightly lesser extent). We've got D3, which has really fun gameplay but feels commercialized and looks like WoW, and we've got PoE, which has a lot of really brilliant ideas and has a darker theme but at no point is ever actually unsettling.

I'd really recommend "Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice". Headphones REQUIRED :D

My fiancee showed me a gameplay trailer for that. "Unsettling" is definitely a word I'd use to describe it.
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